Article handling apparatus



Aug. 15, 1944. H. c. REIMER ARTICLE HANDLING .APPARATUS Filed Jan; 27, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 h m M u."

.Il IH Y QQ mv Q Aug. 15, 1944. l H. c/REIMER ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 27, 1943 u Augfls, 1944. y H, c, RElMER 2,355,820

ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 27, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Aug. 15, 1944 ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Herman C. Reimer, Oak Park, Ill., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 27, 1943, Serial No. 473,714

7 Claims.

Thisv invention relates to article handling apparatus and particularly to an apparatus for handling delicately constructed articles during their assemblage.

The features of this invention are particularly applicable to the handling and assembling of alarm type fuses used in telephone circuits. Such fuses are small and delicate in construction and include spaced resilient terminal members which are interconnected while under tension by a length of fuse Wire of very fine gauge, for example, a nickel chromium wire .0018" in diameter, which is soldered to the terminal members. Heretofore, the resilient terminal members had to be held in position under tension manu-ally and while so held, the fuse Wire was manually soldered thereto and thereafter severed.' These operations were difficult for an operator to perform and required extensive training of any operator in order to produce economically satisfactory assemblages of uniform quality.

An object of the invention is to provide a practicable apparatus for efficiently and economically handling delicately constructed articles during their assemblage.

In attaining this obijeet, there is provided, in one embodiment of the invention as applied to the handling and assembling of lthe above referred to alarm type fuse, an apparatus having reciproy cable and rotary means for receiving and holding the partially assembled fuse, a reciprocatory movement thereof in one direction automatically tensioning the spaced'resilient members ready for the fine gauge fuse Wire to be soldered thereto, and rotary movements thereof in` opposite directions so positioning the members that the fuse Wire may be readily soldered to the members. Means is also provided" for feeding and threading an end of a fuse Wire of indefinite length to the members in position forsoldering thereto. After soldering the fuse Wire to the members, shearing elements on the apparatus'are operable to cut off the fuse Wireclosetothepoint last soldered.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will more clearly appear from the following detailed'V description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 isan end elevation of an article handling apparatus embodying the features of thisinvention as applied to the assembling of alarm type fuses for telephone circuits;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation', partly in section, but with the operating parts in positions other than those shown in Fig. 1;

Fig 3 is a fragmentary plan view taken in the plane of the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, the operating parts being shown in their initial position and a partially assembled fuse mounted on the apparatus;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan View, similar to Fig. 3, the apparatus having been operated to tension the resilient members of the fuse;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 4, the fuse having been rotated and the fuse Wire feeding and threading means operated to the position shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 1 1 of Fig. 1 showing in detail the fuse Wire feeding and threading means;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary plan view similar to Fig. 4, showing the fuse wire shearing means moved into position for clipping the fuse Wire, the soldering operations-having been coupled;

Fig. 9 is a greatly enlarged end elevation of a partially assembled fuse;

Fig. 10 is a similar View of a fuse upon complete assemblage and after removal from the apparatus of this invention; and

Fig. 1l is a side View of the completed fuse of Fig. l0, as Viewed from the left hand side thereof.

The apparatus embodying the features of the invention may be employed with particular advantage, although notlimited thereto, for handling 'during assemblage operations alarm type fuses which are used in telephone circuits. As shown in enlarged scale in Figs. 9, 10 and 11, such fuses may comprise a support or base l5 of thin insulating material having notches I6 and l1 at opposite ends for receiving terminal posts (not shown) upon which the fuse is mounted while in use. Upon opposite ends of the base l5 are attached, by climbing, notched conducting terminals I8 and I9. Mounted on a right angle arm of the terminal I8 is a coiled brass torsion spring 22 having one end soldered at 23 to the terminal arm and an opposite L-shaped end 24 supporting a colored indicatoror signal member 25. The arm 24 is provided with a U-shape formation 26, to which is soldered at 29 (Figs. l10 and 11) one end of a very line fuse wire 30, which is threaded at its opposite end through an oblong aperture 3l in the base l5 and also through an aperture 32 in the outer end of a nickel silver contact spring 33 engaging andsupported by the terminal I9, the latter end of the Wire being bent against the spring 33 and soldered thereto, as indicated at 36. In Fig. 9, the fuse wire 30 has not been assembled with and attached to the springs 22 and 33 and, therefore, the springs are not under tension, While in Figs. and 11 the springs are maintained under tension by the interconnecting fuse wire. Upon the fuse wire 39 fusing and separating, while in use, due to an overload in the telephone circuit, the springs 22 and 33 fly outwardly, the spring 33 closing a signal circuit to indicate that the telephone circuit is out of order and the member 25 on the spring 22, by its position, serving to locate the particular fuse to be replaced.

The fuse handling and assembling apparatus, referring to Figs. 1 to 9, inclusive, comprises an L-shaped bed plate or support 31, which may be mounted on a work bench or table. J ournalled in an opening 38 in a vertical rear arm 39 of the support 31 (Fig. 5) is a rotary shouldered member 49, which is secured in position by an attached plate 4|. Secured to the member 49 and plate 4| is a shouldered irregularly cross-sectioned forwardly extending shaft 43. The rear reduced end of the shaft 43 is screw-threaded and extends through radial slots 44 in the member 49 and plate 4| and is eccentrically clamped to the latter by a nut 45 and an enlargement 46 of the shaft, the space between the member 49 and shaft enlargement being'taken up by acollar 41 and a handle 48 clamped to the shaft. The handle 48 provides means whereby an operator may rotate the member 49 and plate 4| supporting the shaft 43 upon the arm 39 of the support 31. A lug 5| (Figs. 1 and 2) on the member 49 engaging stop pins 52 on the support arm 39 limits the movement of the shaft 43 to 90 in the operation of the apparatus. The eccentric mounting of the shaft 43, upon which the fuse to be handled is supported, makes it possible for the fuse to be rotated about its own longitudinal axis.` The manner of mounting and supporting the'fuse on the shaft will be described shortly.

Fixedto an upper flat face of the shaft enlargement 46 is a cam member 54 (Figs. 3 and 4) and spaced therefrom is a cam member 55 pivoted at 58 to the face, a torsion spring 59 serving to normally rotate the cam member 55 in a clockwise direction (Figs. 3 and 4). Reciprocably carried, on and rotatably secured to the shaft 43 forward of its enlargement 46 is a member 69 having headed opposite ends 6| and 62, the upper faces of the ends being flat and in the plane of the flat face of the shaft enlargement 46 (Fig. 5). Secured to the head 62 at opposite sides of the shaft 43 are pins 65 (Figs. 2 and 3) which are reciprocable in aperturesin the shaft enlargement 46, thus causing the member 69 to rotate withA the shaft but permitting its reciprocation thereon. The member 69 and the shaft 43 are notched, as indicated at 66 (Figs. 2, 3 and 5) for'a suitable distance between the headed ends 6| and 62 and laterally to a point coincident with the longitudinal axis of the shaft. The notch 66 is for the purpose of providing clearance to conveniently manipulate arsoldering iron during assemblage of the fuse,` to be described hereinafter. Pivoted at 61 to the flat face of the head 62 is a member having an arm 69 at its rear end arranged to engage and ride upon a cam face 12 on the fixed cam member 54. A torsion spring 14' serves to normally rotate the member 68 in a counter-clockwise direction (Figi 3). Fixed tothe left face of the head 62, as viewed in Fig. 3, is a member arranged to engage and ride upona cam face 16 of the pivotal cam meinber 55. )At their forward ends, the pivotal members "55 and 68 are provided with arms 19 and 89, respectively, which are caused to move inwardly toward each other during a rearward movement of the member 69 on the shaft 43, due to the arm 69 of the pivotal member 68 and the member 15 riding up the cam faces 12 and 16 of the fixed and pivotal members 54 and 55, respectively (Figs. 3 and 4). Pivoted at 8| (Figs. 3, 4 rand 5) to the head 6| of the member 69 is an angular shaped latch member 82, havnga handle 83. A latch face 84 of the member 82 is arranged to latch against a right hand face of an annular shoulder 85 formed on a sleeve 86 secured by a screw 81 to the shaft 43, as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, when the reciprocable member 6|) is moved rearward from vthe position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4. This is effected by grasping the latch member 82 and the handle 83 thereof and simultaneously pressing it forward and downward. To release the latch member 82, it is rocked clockwise about its pivot 8| and by drawing forward, the attached parts are returned to their initial position (Fig. 3).

Formed on the heads 6| and 62 of the reciprocable member 69 are sets of spaced fuse positioning lugs 88 and 89, between which the fuse is mounted'(Figs. 3, 4 and 5) for laterally positioning the fuse on the member 69, the lugs 88 hav-A ing arranged between them a lug 99 (Fig. 5), which is entered in the notch I1 of the fuse base I5, thus predeterminedly positioning the fuse longitudinally on the member 69. As shown in Fig. 3, wherein the fuse is shown in its initial position on the apparatus, an outer angular end of the arm 19 of the pivotal member 55 is engaged in theU-shaped formation 26 of the spring arm 24. As the member 60 is moved rearward on th shaft 43, to the position shown in Fig. 4, the springs 22 and 33 are tensioned by the inward movement of the arms 19 and 89 of the pivotal members 55 and 68 effected by the members 15 and 54, respectively, in the manner previously described. In order to guide the relatively long spring arm 24, which carries the indicator member 25 into correct lateral position against the fuse base I5 (Fig. 1l), a guide member 93 attached to the member 69 is arranged in the path of the indicator member 25 and if the latter and its supporting arm 24 is-out of position, the member 93 cams it into correct position relative to the fuse base.

To feed and thread the Yfine gauge fuse wire 39 into position for soldering to the springs r22 and 33, means indicated in general at 94 is pivotally mounted at 95 onthe support 31. The feeding and threading means 94 comprises a pivotal arm 96 supporting at its free end a head 91 (Fig. 7), in which' are journalled a pair of rubber feed rolls 99 and |99. The roll |99 is carried on an arm |9`| pivoted at |92 on the head and urged in a counter-clockwise direction by a leaf spring |93 to frictionally engage the roll carried thereby with the fuse wire 39 threaded between the rolls. The fuse wire 39 is led from a suitable supply (not shown) and threaded through an aperture |96 in the head and between the rolls 99 and |99 and thence through a nozzle |91 secured to the upper end of the head 91. To effect rotation of the roll 99, a shaft |98 supporting the roll extends from the head 91 andcarries ahand wheel |99, which, upon such rotation as will rotate the wheel 99 counter-clockwise (Fig. "7), will cause'the fuse wire 39 to be fed from the nozzle |91. For the purpose of applying a liquid flux to theU-shaped formation 26 of the brass spring arm 24; at which point one end of the fuse wire 39 is soldered, the arm 96 of the fuse wire threading and vfeeding means 94carries a flux container I|-2f`roin1which extends a wick H3, so arranged that during the operation of feeding and threading thel fuse wire 39 into position, it Wipes across the! formation 26 of the spring arm 24, 'thuscleaning the spring for the subsequent soldering operation.

Mounted upon a standard I I4xed to the base plate 31 are means, indicated in general at II5, operable to clip off the fuse wire after it is soldered to the formation 26 of the spring arm 24. The fuse wire clipping means comprisesv a support H9 pivoted at I|1 to the standard "I I4 and having a limited movement between stop I pins H8 carried by the standard H4'. A torsion spring I2I is arranged about the pivot H1 to normally move the pivotal support. I I6 inV a clock- Wisedirection and maintain-it against the stop pin IIB, as shown in Fig. 4. Pivoted at |22 to the upper face of the support H6 is a lever |23, having at its free end a wedge-shaped extension |24, operatively engaging a pair of shearing blades |25 pivoted at |26 to the support H6. An operating handle |39, pivoted at I3I on the support H6, engages the lever |23 at a point I 32 and. upon rocking the handle clockwise (Fig. 2) from its full line position to the dotted line position, the blades |25 are rocked in opposite directions about their pivots I26, thus moving their free outer spaced ends together and shearing the fuse Wire 39 therebetween. A suitably arranged torsion spring |33 engaging the inner ends of the blade |25 serves to normally main-` tain the blades, lever |23 and handle- |39 in their inoperative position (Fig. 4).

In the use of the'apparatus above described, the partially assembled fuse (Fig. 9) is mounted on the reciprocable and rotatable member 69 in the manner previously described while the member is in the angular position shown in Fig. 2, at which time the fuse wire feeding and threading means 94 and the fuse wire clipping means II5 are in their normal retracted positions, best shown in Figs. 2 and 4. A plan `View of the member 69 and associated parts of the apparatus with the fuse mounted thereon is shown in Fig. 3. To tension and position the fuse springs 22 and 23 ready for assembling and soldering the fuse wire 39 thereto, the member G9 is moved inward on the shaft 43 by grasping the handle B3 of the latch member 82 and pressing it inward and downward and, in the manner previously described, the spring engaging arms'13 and 39 are moved inwardly with the springs 22 and 33 to the positions shown in Fig. l. At the termination of this movement of the member 99, the springs 23 and 33 are `tensioned and the member 82 is latched by the faces k34 4and 35, the parts now being positioned, as shown inFig. 4. The handle 48 with the attached parts, including the member 69 supporting the fuse, is now `rocked from the position shown in'Fig. 12 to that shown in Fig. 1, its movement being limited by the lug 5| engaging the upper stop pin 52.

The fuse wire feeding and threading means 94 with a short length of wire 39 projecting from the nozzle |91 is then rocked upwardly about its pivot 95 and the free end of the wire is threaded through the aligned fuse base aperture 3| and the aperture 32 in the outer end of the tensioned fuse spring 33, as clearly shown in Figs. l, 6 and 7. During this movement of the means 94, flux is applied to the formation 26 on the spring arm 24 by the wick` I I3. -While the means 94 is held in its upperpositionythe length of wire 39'extending from' the spring 33 is manually bent downwardly to` abut the spring. In this position, the bent wire portion is soldered to the spring, asindicated at 36 (Fig. 10), by manual manipulation of a soldering iron (not shown), the Wireportion extending longitudinally of the spring. Thereafter, the wire feeding and threading: means 94 is lowered to the position shown in Fig. 2, the wire being drawn or fed therethrough as it moves downwardly. The handle 48 is then rocked to its upper position (Fig. 2), its movement beinglimited by the lug 5I engaging the lower stop pin 52.` Thisrotates the fuse back to its initial position and the fuse wire 39 extending between the nozzle |91 and the spring 33 is drawn or wrapped over the U-shaped formation 26 of the arm 24 of the spring 22. While thus positioned, the fuse wire 39 is soldered at the point 29 (Fig. 10) by manual manipulation of a soldering iron. The wire clipping means H5 is now rocked counter-clockwise about its pivot II 1 from its inoperative position (Figs. 1 and 4) to its operative position and as the wire 36 Yimmediately below the soldered point 29 is entered between the free outer spaced ends of the shearing blades |25, the operating handle |39 is moved from its full line position to its dotted line position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 8, in the manner previously described, to shear the fuse wire. Upon releasing the wire clipping means I I5, it returns to its inoperative position through the action of the torsion springs I2I and |33.

-1 To remove the completed fuse with the tensioned springs |22 and |33 interconnected by the fuse wire 30 from the apparatus, its supporting member 69 is first unlatched by rocking the latch member 82 clockwise about its pivot .3| (Fig. 5), which causes it to slide outward on the shaft 43 due to the action of the torsion springs 59 and 14 returning the spring tensioning arms 19 and t0 their normal positions (Fig. 3). The completed fuse may now be lifted freely from the apparatus, the various means of which are again in their initial positions, and another partially assembled fuse placed on the member 69 and the operations repeated.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that a practicable apparatus is provided whereby delicately constructed articles, such as alarm type fuses of the type described, may be economically handled during assembling operations to produce articles of uniform quality.

It will be understood that the embodiment herein described is merely illustrative of the invention and one application thereof and that modications can be made and it is capable of other applications. f

. What is claimed is:

l. In an apparatus for handling articles having oppositely arranged resilient elements to be tensioned and while so tensioned to be interconnected by a link element, a support, a rotary member journalled thereon, a reciprocable member slidable upon and rotatable with said member for holding an article, cooperating stationary and movable sets of oppositely arranged members carried on said support and said reciprocable member effective upon a movement of said re'ciprocable member in one direction to tension the elements of the article, and means for retaining said reciprocable member in position upon predetermined movement thereof in said one direction.

' 2..A'napparatus for assembling: articles comprising means mounted forlongitudinal and rotary movements for supporting an article having a resilient member to be tensioned, means including a pivotal member carried on said support and engaging the resilient member operable in response to longitudinal movement of said support for tensioning said member, and means for feeding a holding element for said tensioned member, said support being rotatable to position said article to receive the holding element toV facilitate attaching the holding element to said tensioned member.

3. An apparatus for assembling articles comprising a rotatable support, means on said support for holding an article havingl a part to be tensioned and movable' longitudinally on said support, cooperating cam means carried on said rotatable support and longitudinally movable holding means responsive to longitudinal movement of said holding means for tensioning said part, and means for feeding a holding element to said tensioned part in one angular position of the rotatable support to facilitate attaching said holding element to said part.

4. In an apparatus for handling articles having resilient members to be tensioned and interconnected While under tension by a Wire link, a support, a rotary member `iournalled thereon, a reciprocable member slidable upon and rotatable With said member for holding an article, cooperating stationary and movable sets of elements carried on said rotary and reciprocable members effective upon a movement of said reciprocable member in one direction to engage and tension the resilient members of the article, cooperating latch means on said rotary and reciprocable members effective to retain said reciprocable member after a predetermined movement thereof in said one direction, and means on said support for feeding one end of a length of Wire to a position for attachment to one'of said resilient members of the article upon said rotary member being moved to one position and upon movement thereof to another position to cause the Wire to engage the other resilient member of the article at its point of attachment thereto.

5. In an apparatus for handling articles having oppositely arranged resilient members to be tensioned and interconnected While under tension by a Wire link, a support, a rotary member journalled thereon, a reciprocable member slidable upon and rotatable With said member for holding an article, cooperating stationary and pivotal sets of oppositely arranged cam members carried on said rotary and reciprocable members effective upon a movement of said reciprocable member in one direction to engage and tension the resilient members of the article, a latch member pivotally carried on said reciprocable member arranged to latchably engage a shouldered face on said rotary member to retain. said reciprocable member after a predetermined movement thereof in said one direction, and movable means on said support arranged in one position to feed one end of a length of Wire to a positionv for attachment to one of said resilient members of the article upon said rotary member being moved to one position and upon movement of said rotary member to another position to cause the wire to engage the other resilient member of the article at its point of attachment thereto.

6. In an apparatus for handling and assembling alarm type electrical circuit fuses having oppositely arranged contact and indicator springs to be tensioned and interconnected While under tension by a fuse Wire link soldered to the springs, a support, a rotary member journalled thereon, a reciprocable member slidable upon and rotatable with said member for holding a fuse, cooperating stationary and movable sets of oppositely arranged members carried on said rotary and reciprocable members effective upon a movement of said reciprocable member in one direction to engage and tension fuse springs, means for retaining said reciprocable member in position upon predetermined movement thereof in said one direction, and pivotal means on said support movable into position for feeding one end of a length of fuse Wire to a position for soldering to one of the springs of the fuse upon said rotary member being moved to one position and upon movement thereof to another position to cause the fuse wire to engage the other spring of the article at its point of soldering thereto.

7. In an apparatus for handling articles having oppositely arranged resilient members to be tensioned and interconnected While under tension by a wire link soldered to the members, a support, a rotary member journalled thereon, a reciprocable member slidable upon and rotatable With said rotary member for holding an article, cooperating stationary and movable sets of oppositely arranged elements carried on said support and rotary member effective upon a movement of said reciprocable member in one direction to engage and tension resilient members of the article, means for retaining said reciprocable member in position upon predetermined movement thereof in said one direction, means movably mounted on said support for feeding one end of a length of Wire to a position for attachment to one of said resilient members of the article upon said rotary member being moved to one position and upon movement thereof to another position to cause the Wire to engage the other resilient member of the article at its point of attachment thereto, flux carrying means on said wire feeding means for applying flux to said other resilient member of the article at its Wire attaching point during the movement of said feeding means for feeding the Wire to the other of said resilient members vof the article, and pivotal wire shearing elements mounted on said support for bodily movement into position for shearing t-he lengths of wire from the portion interconnecting the resilient members of the article.

HERMAN C. REnvrE-R. 

